The Company was founded in 1988 and, since 1990, has been dedicated to the discovery, development and production of new work for the Irish stage. Formerly known as Pigsback, the Company was renamed Fishamble in 1997. The name is inspired by Dublin’s Fishamble Street and in particular, its playhouse which, in 1784, became the first Irish theatre to pursue a policy of producing new Irish work. Fishamble has brought its work to the US, England, Scotland, Canada, Czech Republic, Romania, France and Germany.

Fishamble has produced plays by first-time and established playwrights in Dublin and throughout Ireland. The Company’s work has won a number of awards including The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, BBC/Stewart Parker Trust Awards, Dublin City Council Awards and In Dublin Theatre Awards. It has also been nominated or shortlisted for The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, International Radio Festival Awards, Entertainment & Media Awards, PQ07, The Irish Times Living Dublin Awards, ZeBBie Awards and Allianz Business to Arts Awards.

Fishamble’s work is categorised into three strands:

Fishamble: In The House includes the commissioning, development and production of plays by new, emerging and established writers. The Fishamble Firsts scheme focuses on first plays by new writers. This includes recent productions such as Noah and the Tower Flower by Sean McLoughlin which won the 2007 Best New Play Award at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, and Monged by Gary Duggan which won the Stewart Parker Trust Award, was revived by Fishamble and toured to Liverpool in 2006, and was staged in New York by Origin/Fishamble in summer 2007. New work currently in development includes plays by Sebastian Barry, Gary Duggan, Gavin Kostick, Sean McLoughlin and Abbie Spallen.

Fishamble frequently works with publishers, including New Island Books, Nick Hern Books, Faber & Faber and Methuen, in order to extend the life of plays beyond production. New Island Books is publishing a second volume of Fishamble Firsts, available in book shops soon.

Fishamble: Interplay includes Fishamble’s range of conceptual, company-led work which is often presented in partnership with other arts and non-arts organisations. This includes recent productions such as She Was Wearing…(for Amnesty International in 2005), the site-specific Whereabouts (winner of the 2006 Special Judges’ Award at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards) and Forgotten by Pat Kinevane, which toured nationally during 2006 – 2008, was nominated for a 2007 Irish Times Irish Theatre Award and toured internationally (including Paris, Prague and Edinburgh) in 2008.